Machine for making surgical elastic garments



May'2s,.1929. y i. E. F. CLAY MACHINE FOR HAKIG SURGICLIELASTIC GARHENTS 3 Sheets-Sheet Filed NOV.A l1, 1926 May 28, '1929. P, E, F, CLAY v 1,715,224

MACHINE Fon MAKING SURGICAL ELAsTrc GARuEN'rs Filed Nov. 11, 192e s sheets-sheet 2 IACHINEFOR MAKING SURGICAL ELASTIC GARMENTS Filed Novi-11, 192e' s sheets-sheet l 5 Patented 11929.

UNITED STATE PATENT o arman r; n'cLaY, rwrntrrm. AJalazyurona,- -c:.i1wu .a. mientas ron Maxine sURcIoaLjmsa-rci'caaimnrs.

. i-'pplicati'on filed Novelhen Thel invention relates to 'improvements' in i surgical elasticlgarmentsand method afmaking thesame and an objectof the invention is f` toprovi'de agarment'knittedin such a man'- ner that the points of' the garment most sus-v ceptible topwear canot unravel when the stitchlng at suchpointslbe'comes cut or worn through and such 'that upon the cut or worn stitches being removed, ai mains identical .to the'- o'ri the tensionl o the I' elastic thread fed to the machine.

further obectof. the invention is to construct the latter appliance ina simple, durable andinexpensive manner and such that it can .be readily mountedfoii themachine" and fur# ther to construct `sulifdevice so that it can be Aset to. automatically and radually decrease the tensionof'the'elastic t readbeing fed .to

the machine.

' 'A`further object-is to construct the latter device so. that it can be hand regulated if dest sired and also such that -it can be set to main'- presented.

tain a xed tension in definiteperiod as desired bythe operator A further and more lspecific object is to provide in' a machineu'for .knitting an .elastic stocking, a stitch arrangement which permits the lower endfof the stocking and the upper. j side of theheel slit. of the stockingto beknit .i "f .so that theywill not unravel upon the stitches s becoming cut orwornthroughl fand such that when .the worn stitches at sucli ypoint's-arefre'moved, a iinishededge is -again With the above more important and other minor objects in view. which will become more apparent as the description proceeds, the-i'nvention consists essentially in the arrangement and construction of artshereinafter more particularly describe ,reference being .accolnpanymg drawing, 1n

Fig. 1 isv a side view of a knitting machine embodying my invention."j` Fig. 2 is an nlarged talldplan 'view of the parts appearing infFi-gure 1.

Fig. 3 is a Figure 2.

'Fig. 4:' is alhorizontal sectional view at 4-4 Figure 3. f

Fig, 5 isfa perspective view showing the vertical lsectional view at 3--3 arrangement of` the needles and adjacent parts 'in the location where the knitting is done.

iiliished edge re.-

,ginalfedge'formedfl A further object ofthe inventionis 'to ro-A -videl means for regulating the elastic thread fora ence indicate corre u, 1926. -seil n3. 14am( I of the'needles.A e is an enlarged-'detailed faceview of evice' controlllng the 'elastic thread.'

Lone.

v8*'-8 Figure 7.

is. al. perspective view? of oneend of.i

. ig. 8'is`a horizontal sectionalview at Fig. 9 isa sidef the upper end ofv :the-trip. device. f F1gk110' is a .face view showing the oifset mthelower cam groove.'

thereof.

Fig. 12 is a sideview 6ta surgicalelastic stocking knitted by the machine. y .a Fig. 13 is a perspective viewshowing the l1 is 1an inverted plan view ofthe i upper cam showing the oiset in the groove arrangement of thev loops and the elastic l' thread as they appear at the upper end ofthe stocking and also attheunder side of the heel slit formed inthestocking. i A

Fig. 14 is a perspective view showing the arrangement of the loops .and the elastic.

.stocking and 'at the upper side of the heel slit.

In the drawings like characters of referseveral figures.

The general varrangement of the uppcr parts '85' of 'the kniting machine herein shown is of ordinary' construction`with the exception that I provide more knitting needlesand a special sponding parts in the thread as they appear at the lower end of the device for regulating the tension of the elastic v.thread and a trip for actuating the latter device: when desired. I have not considered it of the machine structure as such machines vare Well known to those familiar with the art and ,accordingly have limited my description'anddrawings to the particular parts of the machine with which my invention is concerned.

9o necessary toenter into a detailed description The bed 1 of the knitting machine is'in the' form ofan vannular ring provided with an inwardly extending continuous flange 2, the

source of power.

driven by an applied belt 9 from'a suitable no The ring '3 carries a stationary verticaliy disposed annular needle guide 1Q whlch 1s l10o bed being stationary and suitably supported flange 2, any

provided on the outer face with a plurality of equi-spaced vertically disposed channels or grooves 11 in which the verticalneedles 12 are slidably mounted. The ribs 13 between the channels are cross slotted to form 'a circumscribing horizontally disposed conpasses the needle guide and is provided onv the side next the 'needle guide with a cam groove 17 which 4'receives a guide nger 18 extending outwardly from and formed as an integral part of each needle. The groove `17Yis'iior the greater part in the horizontal plane but it is provided at the front vside of the machine with an oii'set portion 17 (see Figure 10) adapted to successively lift kandv lower the needles as they lare turnedwith the needle guide.

D1ametrically opposing posts 19 and 20 extend upwardly from the'cam ring andl are permanently Fsecured thereto and the upper ends of the posts carryl a cross bar 21.

A vertically disposedshaft 22 extends downwardly centrally through the cross bar, being fastened thereto by a jam screw 23 (see Figure 2) and g-has the lower end terminating centrally within the needle guide. A

collar 24 is secured to the lower end of thel shaft 22 and on the shaft above the collar I mount rotatably a disc 25 forming a horizontally disposed needle guide and here it will be observed that/ the upper face of the d isc 1s contained in a horizontal plane positioned sllghtly.4 above the horizontal plane containing the *upperJ'end of the needle guide l0.;

To the hub 26 of the disc Ipermanently secure a @ress bar 27and the ends o the cross bar terminate immediately to the side of similar vertical ribs l28 formed on the in- V'ner' side of the Aneedle guide 10. Asbefore explained, the needle guide 10 is stationary and as the shaft 22' is turnedv in a counter .clockwise direction, the ribs of the needle guide 10 contacting with the ends of the arm -prevent the rotation in a counter clockwie direction of the guide 25. The horizontal needle guide'is 'provided horizontal needle witha plurality of radiallyv disposed equispaced slots 29 on its upper face and'in these slots a plurality of horizontally disposed needles 30are slidably mounted, these needles being similar 'to the former needles but having considerably shorter Shanks as best shown in Figure 3 and being provided also with `upstanding fingers -'A disc- 32 overlies Athe horizontal needle guide and ispermanent- I ly fastened to the shaft 2.2 and .to the under side of said latter disc, I secure the horizontally disposed needle cam 33 which is provided with a cam groove 34 which 'receives the upstanding fingers 31 of all the horizontal needles. The camgroove 34 is provided at thel front side of the machine with an offset portion 35 (see Figure` `11). The-needles inall cases have their' exposed ends provided with a hook 36`and witm 75 pivoted latch 37, the free end of which lies` on the outervtip of the hook (seeFigure 6). In knitting machines of this type as now` on the market, the yhorizontal and vertical sets Jof needles are arranged in a two to one ratio and when such machines are. in operation with two vertical needles to one horizontal needle. The stitch is undesirable for the reason that when a garment is knitted with such a stitch, it will unravel frome either 4end of the garment. 'Thisarrangement is Aobviously very undesirable Vatpoints in the garment where it is subjected to hard wear or usage which in the stocking shown isat the lower end H and at the upper side L of the heel slit.

In a.machine as constructed by me, I employ the same number' of horizontal' and vertical needles and the needles are alternated inthemanner best shown in Figure 5. With the needles arranged in the lattermanner, Vthe stitch formed is as shown in igure 14 where it will be observed that there is a y series of loops F at one side of the elastic thread E which loopsare alternated with a' series of loops Gr at the opposite side of the elastic thread E. With such an arra gement' of loops which is only possible by having the same number of vertical vand horizontal needles in the machine, there is a distinct advantage as the s tocln'ng can be knitted so that the lower end H thereof and the upper side L of the heel "opening'terminate in the stitch as shown in the lower part of Figure 14. l

As the lower end H of the the upper side L of the heel opening are the parts which take the most wear andare i 1.10 stocking and most liable to be broken, it is desirable that j the stitches at these points be of such'a nature that '.they will not unravel i-they become cut or broken an'd s uch is the case with the stitching arrangedV as it appears in'Fig-.`

ure 14 Awhere it will vbe observed that the lowermost loops could 'be cut or' worn oil atthe points N without permitting the remaining upper fpartoffthe stocking Ato un ravel. .Obviously if 'these `lower loopsgwere. cut, they could' be pulled out and the then' remaining loops would notunravel and' will still retain the elastic threadpassing through.

The arrangement-of the .stitches l' at `the lower `side R of the heel openngand atthe upper'end T, and in accordance with'my'arrangement, is as shown in-'Figure 13 where it umv4 'at the points R and p 'gathered on the passing elastiethread. As

will be observed that the terminating loops T mentioned are all the point R is under the arch of the foot when the stockingisworn and the point -T is above the calf, there-is very little possibility of the loops becoming worn or cut and accordingly t 4e possibility of the stocking fraying at thesev points is practically negligible. The advantage accordingly of this type ofstitch this kind is'quite a feature .as it provides a garment which can have the points of greatest wear presenting a stitch which will not unravel in the event of the terminating series lof stitches being worn through or cut. As the manner in which the needles of a machine of this kind operate to form stitches and the manner in which the elastic thread is woven into the stitches is well known to those familiar with thisV type of machine, I have not considered it necessary to give a description of the actual knitting operation.

In the making of elastic lgarments such as f stockings, it is desirable to vary the tension of the elastic thread in order to shape the l garment. Obviously ifthe rate at which the elastic thread is fed into the machine is varied, the threadl will be brought into tension or slackenedo and such will effect the shape of the garment being knitted. I have provided an attachment on the machine for this purpose and such is now described. On the cam ring 16 I mount a vertically extending standard 38 which is provided with upper and lowerbrackets 39 and 40,

the brackets carrying inner and-outer guide rods 41 and 42 and a'rotatabl mounted spin- 4 fdle 43. The spindle i's provi ed with a worm to the inner sidel .of the latch andris 44 and has the lower d thereof extending through the bracket 40 and iitted with .a gear wheel 45. A l l e Onl the guide rod `42 I mount slidably a head 46 which is fitted with anextendin arm 47', the free end of the arm being forke and'slidabl'y receiving the guide lrod 41. The

ablymounted on the rod 42. The latchpresents an outstanding arm 50 and two notches 51/l and 52 at the base of-the arm and these notchesare adapted to be engaged by a tit at which time,

in an elastic garment of headis transversely'slotted as indicated at 48 and in the slot I place' a latch 49 rotat.

at 5s will be held in'engagemnt with the' worm when the tit 53 is'in the notch 51 and the head 46 and parts associatedtherewith' will be caused to move up or down as desired the eye carrying end of the Vbar 54 acts as an indicator operating over the scale 56. It will be apparent that if the arm 50 be :turned ina direction such that the tit 53 enters the notch 52, v'the bar 57 will be rotated in a directionI which'will clear the tit 58 from the worm' and thereby permit the headand parts associated therewith to' move .freely down.

To the upper end of the post 19 I secure a' transversely extending-arm 59 which has the outer end thereof upward-lyv deiectedll 1 The bar carries \two upwardly converging spindles 60 and 61, the spindle 61 being permanently 'secured to the upwardly deflected end of the bar and the spindle 60 being ro' tatably carried by the` bar and having the lower end thereof fitted with a gear wheel 62 which is adapted to engage with the shanks of the needles 12 at the point 14 hereinbefore mentioned..

drive for the gear wheel 62. To the spindle 60 I secure a cone 63 and on the spindle 61- I rotatably mount a cone 64 and as the cone 63 is driven, the cone 164 is rotated thereby. To the bed 1 of the machine I secure' an opstanding standard 65. which supports a bracket 66 and the bracket carries pivotally a trip 67 which is itted with a 7vertically disposed pin68. The trip is shown in full outline in Figure 2 in non-operating position, that is, in a position such that the pin 68 will 'not engage with the gear wheel 45 :when the machine is in operation. When the trip is thrown to the osition shown in dotted outlinein Figure 2, t `e pinis adapted to -engage the gear wheel45 and accordingly thegear wheell is rotated one tooth displacement for eacl revolution'of the machine, such resulting in the turning of the worm andthe gradual moving down of. thehead 46 and partsassociated therewith. v'

y As the vertical needlesv are all equi-spaced, they form a convenient ATo the disc 32 I secure 'a forked block69 I and in the fork of the block I meu'ntia tube 70 `which leads downwardly to the needles. The elastic thread'E -which is. fed into the machine passes first through the eye 55, then between the ycones 63 and 64 andfthen downwardly through the tube 70 to theneedles .Where it is incorporated between the stitches of the stocking. To the disc 33 II'secure also.

a post 71 which carries a horizontally disposed arm 72 andthe .free end of thejarm supports a vertically disposed plate 73 positioned in the manner best shown in Figure 5. The plate is supplied with an opening or hole 74 and the stitch forming thread 75 which through an Aeye 7 6l attached to the cross bar provides the series of l'oopsv Fand G hereinbefore mentioned isv passed downwardly 56 on which the-varying circumferences of the stockings are indicated. As the lower end of the stocking does not vary in circumference for aconsiderable length, one will throw the trip 67 to the non-operating position with' the result that the head 46 will remain in its initial set position which is such vthat the elastic thread is fed through between the upper ends of the cones. The feeding of the thread between the upper 'ends of the cones is comparatively slow due to the comparatively small diameter of these cones ati` such point and consequently the elastic thread will be in considerable tension between the cones and the needles which results in the knitted part of the stocking contracting to a comparatively small circumference inthe open area of the machine within the needle guide 10.

The upper part of the stocking is gradually enlarged to accommodate the calf of the leg and this gradual enlarging is effected by swinging the trip 67 into a position Such that it will engage t e arm once each revolution of-the machine. This results in the head which has exceptional wearingI qualities as it rotary head,a pair of upstandin contacting 46 being fed by the worm gradually downwardly and as the head moves down, the elastic thread is fed quicker t9 the machine with the result that there is less tension developed between the cones and the needles `than for- 'merly. If it is desired to decrease the circumference of the upper end of the stocking to be knitted, this is done by hand manipulation and at such time, one throws the trip 67 `into the non-operating position and then turns the gear wheel 45 in a direction which will. raise the eye 55 gradually.

From the above description, it will be apparent thatI can provide an elastic garment will not `nnravel when the stitches are cut `or worn through at'the point where the gar- V'ment is subjected to greatestwear Vand further-that I provide a simple and positive appliance for feeding the elastic thread into the machine and in a manner such that its tension can be readily varied to control the `circumference of the garment at. varying points as the same is being knit.

vVVhatI claim as my invention is ing an elastic thread therein and embodying a cones' carried by and rotating with lthe head and between which the elastic thread is fed to the machine, means for driving one `of the cones as the head rotates, a rotatably mounted worm shaft carried by the head and positioned parallel to the contacting sides of the' cones, a member mounted to slide parallel to the worm shaft and carrying a guide through which the elastic thread is fed to the cones, means for selectively connectingthe sliding member'to the wprm shaft to cause the said member to be shifted in the turning of the worm shaft and means for rotating the worm shaft intermittently as the head rotates.

2. In a machine for knitting a garment having an elastic thread therein and embodying ajrotary head, a pair of upstanding contacting cones carried by and rotating with the "head and' between which the elastic, thread is fed to the machine, means for driving one of the cones as the head rotates, a rotatably mounted worm shaft carried by the head and positioned parallel to the contacting sides of the cones, a suitably supported stationary spindle parallel' to the worm shaft, a head slidably mounted on the spindle, said head carrying an eye receiving the elastic thread feeding to the cones, means for selectively coupling the head to the worm shaft to cause the coupledhead to shift end' of the cones, a A'suitably supported stationaryspindle parallel to the worm shaft, a head slidably mounted on the spindle, said head carrying an eye receiving the elastic thread feeding to the cones, means for selectively coupling the head to the worm shaft to cause the coupled head to shift endwise on the spin- .dle 1n the rotation of the worm shaft, a gear Wheel connected to the worm shaft and an ad-l justable striker engageable with the gear wheel and adapted to turn the gear wheeleach revolution of the machine. 4. In a machine for knitting a garmen having an elastic thread therein and embodying a rotary head, a pair of upstanding contacting cones carried by and rotating with the head and between whichl the elastic thread is fedto the machine, -means for driving one of the cones as the head rotates, a rotatably mounted worm shaft carried by the head 1. In a machine'for knitting a garment hav- 'and positioned parallel tothe contacting sides of the cones, a pair of suitably mounted stationary spindles'spaced from and parallel to the worm shaft, a transversely slotted head f.

slidably mounted on-one of the spindles, an

' the former spindle, means for locking the latch in two adjusted positions, av member carried by the latch and adapted to be engaged with or clear of the Worm shaft depending on the adjustment given thelatch, a.

tuber, 1926.

guider member carried by the sliding head and through which the' elastic thread is fed to the cones, a gear Wheel secured to the Worm shaft and an adjustable striker engageable with the gear wheel and adapted to turn the same once each revolution of the rotary head.

Signed at Winnipeg, this 21st day of Oc- PHILIP E. F. CLAY. 

